自制火箭升空？算了，逝者為大吧！

An amateur American astronaut who said he wanted to prove the Earth is flat has been killed in the crash of his homemade rocket in California, said the Science Channel, which filmed the launch.

據(jù)美國科學(xué)頻道報道，美國一業(yè)余宇航員在加利福尼亞乘坐自制火箭墜毀身亡。他曾說想要證明地球是平的。美國科學(xué)頻道拍攝了他升空的視頻。

"Michael 'Mad Mike' Hughes tragically passed away today during an attempt to launch his homemade rocket," the channel, which is part of the Discovery Channel, said on Twitter.

美國科學(xué)頻道隸屬探索頻道，該頻道在推特上說：“邁克爾·‘狂人麥克’·休斯今天在嘗試發(fā)射自制火箭時不幸去世。”

"Our thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends during this difficult time."

“在這一令人悲痛的時刻，我們要向他的家人和朋友表達(dá)我們的哀悼和祈禱。”

A stuntman by profession, Hughes, 64, launched himself Saturday in a steam-powered rocket that he built in the backyard of his home in Barstow, California. Several brands sponsored the project.

64歲的休斯是一名職業(yè)特技演員，周六乘坐蒸汽火箭升空。火箭是他在加州巴斯托家中的后院自制的。這一項目獲得了幾個品牌的贊助。

His goal, he told the local press, was to ascend more than 1,500 meters (nearly one mile) to prove that the Earth is not round but shaped like a Frisbee.

他對當(dāng)?shù)孛襟w說，他的目標(biāo)是要升到1,500多米(近1英里)的空中，證明地球不是圓的，而是像一個飛盤。

His spokesman Darren Shuster told the Los Angeles Times, however, that the flat Earth claim was merely to drum up publicity for the launch.

但他的發(fā)言人Darren Shuster對《洛杉磯時報》說，“地球是平的”的言論僅僅是為這次發(fā)射做宣傳的。

"I don't think he believed it," Shuster said. "He did have some governmental conspiracy theories. But don't confuse it with that flat Earth thing. That was a PR stunt we dreamed up."

Shuster說：“我覺得他不是這樣想的，他的確有政府陰謀論的想法，但不要把它和‘地球是平的’的說法混為一談。那只是我們想出來的公關(guān)噱頭。”

Images of the launch, carried out in the desert in front of a crowd of horrified witnesses, circulated on social media.

火箭是在沙漠發(fā)射升空的，事故目擊者都驚恐萬分，社交媒體上瘋傳火箭發(fā)射視頻。

A parachute can be seen tearing away from the rocket moments after the launch, as the spacecraft loops downward and crashes several hundred meters from the launch site near Barstow, 110 miles (180 kilometers) northeast of Los Angeles.

發(fā)射后火箭盤旋而下，降落傘與火箭分離，火箭墜毀在距發(fā)射地點幾百米遠(yuǎn)的地方，在巴斯托附近，位于洛杉磯東北部110英里(180千米)。

"It was always his dream to do this launch and Science Channel was there to chronicle his journey," said the channel, which filmed the launch for a new series called Homemade Astronauts.

美國科學(xué)頻道為新系列片《私房宇航員》拍攝該火箭升空視頻，說：“這次發(fā)射一直是他的夢想，科學(xué)頻道在現(xiàn)場記錄他的旅程。”

Dressed in a red-and-black space suit and posing in front of the rocket, Hughes had announced plans for the launch on the Discovery Channel.

休斯穿著紅黑相間的航天服，在火箭前擺好姿勢，在探索頻道上宣布他的發(fā)射計劃。

Explaining why he would do it, he said, "Just to convince people that they can do things extraordinary with their lives... Maybe it will inspire someone else."

在解釋他這樣做的原因時，他說：“只是為了說服人們他們能用生命做出非凡之舉，這也許能激勵到別人。”